Quiet

Things have been a little quiet around here the last few days. Sharaya and Allie come over for dinner, lunch actually, on Sundays and then sometimes Sharaya will go grocery shopping while we hang out with Allie. I told Sharaya that Allie is 9 now so we're almost beyond the 'babysitting' stage. She's grown up so fast.

 

We watched Christopher Robin and I got out all my Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals. When I was in high school some friends came up with the Pooh Pack. Each one of us were given a name of one of the characters that matched our personalities and we'd have sleep-overs and parties, all around the Winnie the Pooh theme. Since I was a senior and they were all underclassmen, they would ask my advice on situations at home and help with school so naturally I was Kanga. I've had some of these stuffed animals since high school but the big ones our girls bought when they were little. I just can't bare to part with them!

The weather's been really nice, cold but sunny so I took the cover off the fire ring and when Sharaya got back from the grocery store we sat outside until it got dark, talking and drinking hot chocolate.

Today Beth is at All Aboard and Chuck is working. I've had a few hours to myself, doing laundry, filled the dishwasher, emptied the trash, but no real responsibilities, no deadlines, it's been very nice.

So how's your week going so far?

A Gathering Place

For many years we'd drive down I-5 all the way to San Diego but it's very boring and can get very hot. There's really nothing to look driving through the San Joaquin (wah-keen) Valley and it goes on for hours. And hours!

 

I took this once when we were headed back home.

We decided one time to take Hwy 99 and we've driven that way ever since. It's just a little bit east of I-5 but takes the same amount of time. There's a lot of small towns dotting the highway and it just makes it more interesting. We get to drive by Turlock and Atwater and Chowchilla, it also helps us feel a little more secure knowing there are places we can get to if we have car trouble.

Although with all the thousands of miles we've traveled, we've had very little car trouble. We've been so thankful.

We arrive in San Diego usually in the evening and go straight to our hotel (timeshare condo) in Mission Valley. It's about 15 minutes from the coast. Course, we call all the family and tell them we made it, we don't want anyone worrying about us.

One time we told them that one of the things we wanted to do while we were there was spend an entire day at the beach. My nephew made the suggestion that we have a bonfire and we were absolutely up for that! 

He went to the grocery store and got a few free pallets and that's what we burned. We got to the beach early so we could reserve a fire ring and when I say reserved, I mean we put our stuff around it to let others know it was ours! As the day rolled on and the sun began to go down, we started the fire. Surfers would come out of the water and come over, others would stop by to get warm and we'd talk for a while. It's such a gathering place! It's one of our favorite memories of visiting San Diego!

 

There's just something about being at the ocean in the evening with a huge bonfire to keep you warm!

Have you ever been on a road trip? 

Do you have a favorite memory?